Trump White House Official Proposed US Troops' Withdrawal From Baltic Countries: Report

A top White House official working for President Donald Trump’s National Security Council had proposed to draw down the United States’ armed forces in Eastern Europe to please Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after Trump took office, the Daily Beast reported Tuesday.

The proposal was never sanctioned or enacted, however, it is the first known instance of senior White House aides floating to relocate the U.S. military forces in a move to satisfy Putin.

Kevin Harrington, the National Security Council’s senior official for strategic planning, suggested in February 2017 that U.S. troops in close proximity to the Russian borders be withdrawn in order to appease Putin.

Harrington reportedly suggested such a thing in order to "refram[e] our interests within the context of a new relationship with Russia," a former official, who was present when Harrington suggested the idea, told the Daily Beast.

Harrington reportedly had no military experience before joining the Trump administration, however, he had worked as a managing director for the Thiel Macro hedge fund which was run by one of Trump's close ally, Peter Thiel.

Harrington, who determined economic sanctions on Russia as being detrimental to the U.S., thought of relocating or withdrawing the U.S. forces in the Baltics in a move to please the Kremlin and as a result, allow Trump administration to determine if Russia would cooperate in building an amicable relationship.

The former official, who spoke to the Daily Beast under the condition of anonymity, said that Harrington’s idea was ill-advised and that the Kremlin would rather perceive the move as a go-ahead from the U.S. for additional provocations in areas like Syria and Ukraine.

"I sensed we were giving something and it wasn’t clear what we were gaining in return," the former official explained to the Daily Beast.

According to the former official, Harrington’s primary audience for the proposal was then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The proposal was reportedly said to have been made in a strategy paper that didn’t mention Russia as either a competitor or an adversary. The former official also indicated that Harrington might not have pressed the proposal further because of the probability that the current National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster would have opposed it.

A second former senior Trump administration official also told the Daily Beast that Harrington had enthusiastically discussed this proposal with several other senior staffers, including ousted White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

This source explained that Harrington’s proposal had been largely brushed aside, even at the immensely chaotic early days of the Trump administration after the president took office.

"I [personally] did not take it to the president because the White House is the leakiest ship possible and can you imagine how that would have looked," the former administration official said.

Although the U.S. does not have a permanent base in the Baltics for a substantial number of troops, it was said to have deployed 150 soldiers to the region from the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, and has consistently rotated a troop presence since then. The U.S. also sent Abrams tanks to conduct a drill in the Baltics just days before Harrington’s proposal as an indication that the country remains committed to their defense.